PRESS RELEASE - A cross-party group of lawmakers from both Houses of Parliament on Wednesday denounced recent systematic human rights violations by the Iranian regime and urged the British Government and the European Union to impose comprehensive sanctions against Tehran.

{mosimage}A cross-party group of lawmakers from both Houses of Parliament on Wednesday denounced recent systematic human rights violations by the Iranian regime and urged the British Government and the European Union to impose comprehensive sanctions against Tehran. The MPs and Lords put on display signed statements by more than 150 Parliamentarians condemning Tehran’s flagrant human rights abuses.

At a press conference in Parliament on the occasion of World Day Against the Death Penalty, the MPs and Lords representing the British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom said that the EU’s appeasement policy with regards to the Tehran regime had emboldened the mullahs to violate repeated UN Security Council resolutions over their clandestine nuclear work and perpetrate waves of group executions as part of a clampdown on political opposition in society unprecedented in recent history.

Shocking footage of police brutality and public executions in Iran which had recently been smuggled out of Iran by supporters of the main Iranian Resistance group, the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI), were shown for the first time at the meeting.

“There are 600 political prisoners under threat of execution this morning in Iran. One hundred and fifty fellow Parliamentarians and I expect and demand from our Government and the UK’s representatives at the UN in New York to draw attention to these executions”, Andrew MacKinlay MP (Labour, Thurrock) told the conference. He described the mass execution of 30,000 PMOI members and supporters by the regime in 1988 as “genocide”.

“There can be no meaningful dialogue with the present regime in Tehran”, said Roger Gale MP (Conservative, North Thanet), adding that the Iranian Resistance had cross-party support in Parliament. He termed the PMOI’s proscription in the UK as “illegal”.

“From torture to public executions, the Iranian regime, even by its own brutal standards, has surpassed itself in recent months”, said Brian Binley MP (Conservative, Northampton South). He called on the Government to support the activities of the PMOI, saying that the group’s sole aim was the creation of a “democratic and free Iran”.

“150 MPs have signed a statement on Iran requesting the British Government and the EU to have dialogue with the Iranian Resistance and its President-elect Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, while imposing rigorous sanctions against the regime”, he added.

Former Conservative Home Secretary Rt. Hon. Lord Waddington GCVO DL QC told the meeting, “There is a need for fundamental change in Iran to rid us of a regime which is a threat to world peace. … Removing the present restrictions on the PMOI is essential for world peace”.

“Women, who are suppressed in Iran, get comfort in knowing they have a magnificent champion in Mrs. Rajavi. … Mrs. Rajavi is a real champion of the people of Iran. We should give her all our support”, Lord Waddington said.

Henry Bellingham MP (Conservative, North West Norfolk) said, “Demonstrations by students in Iran at a time when the regime is executing opponents shows their courage and bravery”. He called for the PMOI’s removal from the blacklist.

Ms. Mehrafrouz Peikarnegar, member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, told the meeting, “We in the NCRI believe it is time for the UN Human Rights Council to appoint a Special Rapporteur to monitor the systematic abuse of human rights in Iran. We also urge the EU to refer Tehran’s human rights dossier to the Security Council for the imposition of binding measures against the regime”.

Elaborating on the options the world community had to tackle the regime’s threats to world peace, Ms. Peikarnegar said, “Neither appeasement of the regime, nor foreign military intervention is the solution to the Iranian crisis. The international community has a third option: democratic change in Iran by relying on the Iranian people and their resistance”.

“It is unacceptable for our Government to regard the PMOI as a terrorist organisation when the real terrorists are the religious police in Iran”, she said.

The Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Lord Dholakia, said he was “deeply disturbed” by the footage of executions in Iran that were shown at the meeting.

“No democratic Government should ever appease a regime with such brutality. We should never negotiate with a dictatorship since a dictatorship has no mandate from its people”, he said, adding that the EU should adopt economic sanctions against the regime.

“I want to make an appeal. There should be an international war crimes tribunal to bring to justice those in Iran who have perpetrated such crimes.

“I want to associate myself with the work that is being carried out by the Iranian Resistance”, Lord Dholakia said, adding that he supported the effort to have the PMOI de-proscribed in the UK.

Other panellists included Mr. David Drew MP (Labour, Stroud) and Ms. Azadeh Zabeti, co-chair of the Committee of Anglo-Iranian Lawyers. Ms. Zabeti said, “Constructive engagement, if it was ever considered a viable policy option, is now a farce. This failed policy has and is costing lives. The Iranian people are paying for the international community’s inaction with their blood”.

The speakers said that in addition to UN action on Tehran’s illegal uranium enrichment programme, Britain and the EU must refer Tehran’s human rights dossier to the Security Council for the imposition of comprehensive sanctions against the regime.

The British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom10 October 2007

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Note to editors:

The British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom is comprised of over 50 Members of Parliament and Peers from across the political spectrum.

The PMOI – Iran’s principle opposition force – is a member organisation in the main opposition coalition National Council of Resistance of Iran. Some 120,000 of its members and sympathisers have been executed by the mullahs’ regime on political grounds. The NCRI was the first to alert the international community to the regime’s secret nuclear projects in August 2002.

The PMOI were proscribed in the UK by then-Home Secretary Jack Straw MP in 2001. The same proscription was used as the basis of the group’s inclusion in the EU’s terrorist list. On 12 December 2006, however, the Court of First Instance of the European Communities in a landmark verdict “annulled” the EU’s decision to place the group in the terrorist list. At the UK Government’s bidding, the EU announced in June 2007 that it would maintain the PMOI in the list.

The Proscribed Organisations Appeals Commission (POAC) is currently reviewing the PMOI’s proscription in the UK and is expected to announce its verdict in the coming weeks.